Trafford returns to Manchester City!

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Manchester City F.C.

·29 de julho de 2025

Trafford returns to Manchester City!

Manchester City are delighted to confirm the signing of James Trafford from Burnley.

The 22-year-old English goalkeeper has completed a move to the Etihad Stadium, putting pen to paper on a five-year deal until June 2030.

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It marks an emotional return to City for the England Under-21 international who spent almost eight years at the Club as part of our Academy before moving to Turf Moor in 2023.

During his subsequent two season stay in east Lancashire, Trafford has gone on to establish himself as one of the most coveted young goalkeepers operating in Europe.

Trafford earned widespread praise for his displays in his maiden campaign at Turf Moor playing under former City skipper Vincent Kompany.

Though that maiden campaign ended with relegation back to the Championship, Trafford only further enhanced his glowing reputation last term working under Scott Parker who succeeded Kompany.

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Trafford emerged as one of the pivotal figures as Burnley sealed an instant return back to the topflight.

He chalked up astonishing 29 clean sheets in 45 Championship matches, equalling the record number of shut outs in a season in English football – conceding just 16 goals along the way.

WATCH: Trafford: I’m proud of my journey back to City

That haul included a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets between December and February, a remarkable feat which saw the Cumbrian native create another Championship record.

He was subsequently named in the Championship Team of the Year.

Now Trafford is back where his career started, and he said he was both hugely excited and proud to have joined Pep Guardiola’s star-studded City squad.

“Rejoining City is such special and proud moment both for me and my family,” James said.

“I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City.

“This is the place I call home – it’s a truly special football club with fantastic people who make it such a unique place to work and play.

“I am also so very excited and honoured to have been given the opportunity to work under Pep and with such a world-class group of players.

“I am still very young and hungry to keep learning and improving – and I know there is no better environment than Manchester City to help make me become the best goalkeeper I can be.

“I also cannot wait to play in front of the amazing City fans for the first time and will do everything I can to help this great club look to achieve even more success.”

Director of Football Hugo Viana expressed his own delight at Trafford’s return to the Etihad.

“James is already one of the most accomplished young goalkeepers in the English game, and we are delighted to welcome him back to Manchester City.

“He has all the attributes a top-class goalkeeper requires. We feel he is an ideal fit for this squad and will bring great quality to the goalkeeping department.

“We fully believe he will be really successful and a top goalkeeper for Manchester City and the national team.

“I also have no doubt that working with Pep and the technical staff here at City will only see James further develop his abilities.”

Everyone at Manchester City is delighted to welcome James back to the club and we all wish him well during his time here.

Glove story

There’s something of the prodigal son returning about James Trafford’s arrival back at Manchester City.

Over the course of eight memorable years as part of the Club’s famed Academy, Trafford went on to establish himself as one of the most talented and well-respected young players to emerge during what has proved a golden period.

Humble and modest off the field, on it, Trafford marries quiet authority alongside superb technical ability, huge reservoirs of application and concentration allied to incredible bravery.

Yet despite playing in one of the most scrutinised and high-pressured positions on the field, there has always been a huge sense of calm and measured perspective about Trafford - no matter what is at stake.

The proud son of a farming family from just outside Cockermouth in his native Cumbria, Trafford has spoken of how important his heritage and family support has proved throughout his career.

He has also referenced how earlier in his career he sought to enjoy spending his spare time away from the pressures of football by continuing to help out his parents on the family farm.

Though he originally began as on outfield midfielder, Trafford switched to playing in goal at the age of nine after volunteering to try his hands between the sticks and never looked back from that inspired decision.

Having first joined City as a 12-year-old, Trafford’s natural talent and strength of character saw him swiftly progress through the age ranks before he first established himself in our Under-18s side during the COVID interrupted 2019/20 campaign, one which saw City lift the Under-18 Premier League North title on a points per game basis.

After then being elevated into Enzo Maresca’s Elite Development Squad at the outset of the 2020/21, Trafford went on to figure 11 times that term to help our Under-21s claim a first-ever Premier League 2 title and also featured on the bench for City’s first team in a 1-0 win at Sheffield United in October of 2020.

Trafford then furthered his professional development by spending the 2021/22 season playing on loan, initially at Accrington Stanley before then switching to fellow League One side Bolton Wanderers where he swiftly served notice of his talent by chalking up four clean sheets in his first four appearances for the Trotters.

The youngster then spent the whole of the 2022/23 campaign again on loan at Bolton and enjoyed a hugely successful, record-breaking spell.

His tally of 26 clean sheets from 52 appearances set a record for the most shut-outs in Bolton history with Trafford also chalking up nine consecutive home clean sheets between December and February – another club record.

Trafford also proved a cornerstone of the Wanderers side which lift the 2023 EFL Trophy at Wembley thanks to a 4-0 win over Plymouth, the Club’s first silverware of the millennium.

That same season also saw Trafford make his bow for England’s Under-21s where his meteoric impact was crowned with a man of the match display as the Young Lions won the 2023 European Under-21 Championships with a dramatic 1-0 win over Spain in the final.

Trafford it was whose dramatic stoppage time penalty save secured the crown – and ensured he finished the tournament without having conceded a single goal in England’s six games – the first time that feat had been achieved in tournament history.

Not surprisingly, those extraordinary exploits made Trafford one of the game’s most sought-after young ‘keepers.

And the lure of the chance to play regular Premier League football with newly-promoted Burnley saw James bid farewell to City in July of 2023.

Ironically, he made his Clarets debut in a 3-0 defeat against City in August. And though the season would ultimately end in the disappointment of relegation for the Turf Moor club, the lessons and learnings along the way proved vital.

Proof positive of that arrived last term when Trafford’s heroics underpinned what by any stretch of the imagination was a remarkable campaign for Burnley.

The numbers alone were quite astonishing.

A tally of 29 clean sheets all told which equalled the record number of shut outs in a season in English football.

A run of 12 consecutive clean sheets also broke the record for the longest run of shut-outs in Championship history.

And, as Burnley sealed an instant return to the Premier League, Trafford’s feat in helping the Clarets concede just 16 league goals all season served as the lowest amount in the 137-year history of the Football League.

Now Trafford’s glove story has turned circle with the 22-year-old back where his story began and ready to play his part in City’s renewed quest for more success.